Agroforestree database This database provides detailed information on a total of 670 agroforestry tree species. It is intended to help field workers and researchers in selecting appropriate species for agroforestry systems and technologies. For each species, the database includes information on identity, ecology and distribution, propagation and management, functional uses, pests and diseases and a bibliography. This project has been funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID, the European Union and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). |
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| Acrocarpus fraxinifolius | Acrocarpus fraxinifolius is a stately deciduous tree, attaining heights of 30-60 m; stem cylindrical, free of branches for up to 75% of its total height. Even above its massive plank buttresses, it can achieve a diameter of over 200 cm. The branches remain relatively thin and are horizontally deployed. Bark is thin and light grey in colour. Although a legume, it apparently does not have nitrogen-fixing nodules. A. fraxinifolius is deep rooting, sometimes upto 4.5 m into the soil. Leaves bipinnate, about 30 cm with 3-4 compound leaflets and consisting of 5-6 elliptical, lanceolate leaflets 7-10 cm long and arranged in pairs; bright red when young, giving the tree its characteristic appearance. Flowers appear on tree when leafless, up to 20 dense heads hanging down from branch ends, each 12 cm long, dripping nectar from the reddish-green to orange flowers. Fruit an elongated and flattened pod, long-stipitate, narrowly winged; (min. 3) 10-18 seeded. Seed slightly lens shaped, brown. |
| Adenanthera pavonina | Adenanthera pavonina is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree, 6-15 m tall and up to 45 cm diameter, depending on location; generally erect; bark dark brown to greyish; inner bark soft, pale brown; crown spreading; multiple stems common, as are slightly buttressed trunks in older trees. Leaves bipinnate; 2-6 opposite pairs of pinnae, each with 8-21 leaflets on short stalks; alternate leaflets 2-2.5 x 3 cm, oval-oblong, with an asymmetric base and blunt apex, dull green on topside and blue-green underside; leaves turn yellow with age. Flowers borne in narrow spikelike racemes, 12-15 cm long, at branch ends; flowers small, creamy yellow, fragrant; each flower star shaped with 5 petals, connate at the base, and having 10 prominent stamen-bearing anthers tipped with minute glands. Pods long and narrow, 15-22 x 2 cm with slight constrictions between seeds, dark brown, turning black upon ripening, leathery, curve and twist upon dehiscence to reveal 8-12 hard-coated, showy seeds, 7.5-9 mm in diameter, lens shaped, vivid scarlet; seeds adhere to pod. Ripened pods remain on the tree for long periods, sometimes until the following spring. The name ‘Adenanthera’ is derived from a combination of the Greek words ‘aden’, a gland, and ‘anthera’, anther, alluding to the anther’s characteristics of being tipped and having a deciduous gland. |
| Afzelia africana | Afzelia africana is a large deciduous tree with a spreading crown, to 30 (-35) m tall in forests and 10-18 m tall in savannah. The average dbh is 1 m. The stem has relatively thick, unequal buttresses with a light concave profile; in general they are 1-1.5 m tall and 1-2 m wide. Twigs glabrous, with lenticels. The bark is a reddish-grey, scaly, about 2 cm thick. It exfoliates in rounded patches, protecting the tree effectively against the frequent bush-fires of the dry season. The rosy slash exudes a dark yellow, highly aromatic resin. Leaves bright green, paripinnate, to 30 cm long each with 7-17 pairs of elliptic or ovate glabrous leaflets. Petioles 0.4-1.0 cm long. Flowers white to yellowish, 1.5 cm long, with one single red striped petal, set in terminal panicles to 20 cm long. Fruit a flat pod 12-17 x 5-8 x 3.5 cm hard, slightly rounded, dark brown to black, glabrous with a distinct beak at one end. Each pod contains several black seeds. Seeds poisonous, 2-3 cm long, with sweet bright orange edible aril in one-third of its length from the base. The genus name ‘Afzelia’ is after Adam Afzelius, a Swedish botanist (1750-1837) who made the first collection when he visited Sierra Leone in 1792 and from 1794-96 |
| Allanblackia stuhlmannii | Allanblackia stuhlmannii is a tall evergreen forest tree to 40 m tall, with a straight, occasionally buttressed bole. The branches are usually drooping and often conspicuously whorled. Bark dark grey or black, sometimes smooth or with rough squares scales. The slash is red with white stripes, fibrous/ granular, exuding a clear exudate latex, which later turns yellowish. Leaves simple, opposite, deep green, 5-19.5 cm long by 1.2-7 cm wide; oblong or elliptic elongated, abruptly and sharply acuminate, cuneate at the base; with many pairs of very thin lateral nerves running at a wide angle to the midrib; stalk stout, 1-2 cm long. Flower large, waxy, unisexual, usually solitary in axils, very fragrant, up to 5 cm across when expanded and 1.5 cm across in bud form. Stalk 6-8 cm long with 5 unequal overlapping, rounded and concave red or pale yellow sepals. Petals 5, cream or scarlet rounded about 2 cm long. Male flowers in a terminal raceme, crowded towards the apex of the drooping branches. Anthers on both faces of stamen bundles. Stamen-bundle flattened, club-like, yellow, and waxy, about 1.5cm long. Female flowers with stamens reduced to staminodes; ovary ovoid, 1.5 cm long, glabrous with 2-4 ovules per locules, arranged in 2 rows; with the large 5-lobed stigmas forming a cap over the apex. Fruit is a large ovoid 5-lobed drupe, 16-34 cm long by 15-17 cm wide with tough flesh, brown or red-brown, oblong or subglobose, producing a yellow latex, hanging at the end of a short stalk. Seeds brittle-shelled, four-angled, about 4 cm long by 3 cm wide, 40-100 per fruit, embedded in a gelatinous pulp. The generic name ‘Allanblackia’ is after a 19th-century Kew botanist, Allan Black. There are 9 species in the genus Allanblackia accepted according to Bamps (1969). These are A. ulugurensis Engl., A. stuhlmannii Engl. (endemic to East Africa), A. kisonghi Vermoesen, A. kimbiliensis Spirl (endemic to Congo-Kinshasa). The rest such as Allanblackia floribunda Oliv., A. parviflora A.Chevalier, A. gabonensis (Pellegr.) Bamps, A. marienii Staner, A. stanerana Exell & Mendonca occur in several countries of Central Africa. |
| Allanblackia ulugurensis | Allanblackia ulugurensis is a medium to large evergreen forest tree to 30 m tall, with a straight and slightly buttressed bole. The branches are drooping and often conspicuously whorled. The bark is red-brown or brownish-grey and when slashed exuding yellow latex. Leaves simple, opposite, dark green, 7.5-19.5 cm long by 4-11 cm wide; oblong or elliptic elongated, slightly emarginated or rounded at the apex and broadly cuneate at the base; with many pairs of lateral nerves running at a wide angle to the midrib; stalk stout, 0.7-1.4 cm long. Flower unisexual, dioecious, clustered towards the ends of the drooping branchlets, axillary, fleshy, pedicel short, up to 5cm across when expanded and 1.5cm across in bud form. Sepals 5 unequal overlapping, red-brownish, elliptic or almost rounded with the inner 4-7.5 mm long and 4-6.5 mm wide and the outer nearly round up to 1.2 cm long and wide. Petals 5, rounded about 2cm long. Male flowers reddish pink. Stamen-bundle clavate, about 1-1.5cm long and 0.7-1.2 cm wide, angled pointing towards the centre of the flower. Female flowers stamens reduced to staminodes; ovary ovoid, 1.5 cm long, arranged in 2 rows; with the large 5-lobed stigmas forming a cap over the apex. Fruit reddish pink but ochraceous when dry, conical-oblong drupe, 10-13.5 cm long and 6.5-8 cm in diameter, hanging at the end of a short stalk. Seeds irregular in shape, brittle-shelled, 3-3.6cm long by 2.2-2.3cm in diameter, embedded in a gelatinous pulp on one angle. The generic name ‘Allanblackia’ is after a 19th-century Kew botanist, Allan Black. The specific epithet ‘ulungurensis’ refers to one of the plant’s endemic distribution localities in Tanzania. There are 9 species in the genus Allanblackia accepted according to Bamps (1969). These are A. ulugurensis Engl., A. stuhlmannii Engl. (endemic to East Africa), A. kisonghi Vermoesen, A. kimbiliensis Spirl (endemic to Congo-Kinshasa). The rest such as Allanblackia floribunda Oliv., A. parviflora A.Chevalier, A. gabonensis (Pellegr.) Bamps, A. marienii Staner, A. stanerana Exell & Mendonca occur in several countries of Central Africa. |
| Alstonia boonei | Alstonia boonei is a large deciduous tree, up to 45 m tall and 1.2 m in diameter; bole often deeply fluted to 7 m, small buttresses present; bark greyish-green or grey, rough; slash rough-granular, ochre-yellow, exuding a copious milky latex; branches in whorls. Leaves in whorls of 5-8, simple, subsessile to petiolate, stipules absent; petiole 2-10 (max. 15) mm long, stout; blade oblanceolate to obovate, rarely elliptic, 7-26 x 3-9.3 cm; apex acute to rounded or sometimes emarginate; base narrowly cuneate; margins entire, sub-coriaceous to coriaceous, dark shiny green top surface, light green on under surface; midrib more prominent below. Inflorescence terminal, compound with 2-3 tiers of pseudo-umbels; primary peduncles 0.5-7 cm long, greyish pubescent; bracts ovate-triangular, 1-1.5 mm long, pubescent; pedicels about 5 mm long. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite, pentamerous; calyx cupular tube about 1 mm long; lobes ovate, about 1.5 mm long, spreading; corolla pale green tube up to 14 mm long; lobes slightly obliquely ovate, up to 6 mm long and wide, pubescent outside. Fruit formed by 2 pendent green follicles up to 60 cm long, longitudinally striate, dehiscing lengthways while on the tree; seeds numerous, flat, about 4 x 2 mm, with tufts of hair at each end 10 mm long. ‘Alstonia’ is named after Dr C. Alston (1685-1760), a professor of botany at Edinburgh University. |
| Andira inermis | Andira inermis is a deciduous tree up to 15(-35) m tall, bole usually short, straight and cylindrical, up to 50(-100) cm in diameter. Crown columnar or pyramidal to spreading; bark fissured and scaly, with an unpleasant cabbage-like smell. Trunk frequently forms buttresses up to 3 m tall. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, 15-40 cm long, with 7-17 leaflets, bright tan when young and shiny green when mature, margins entire. Flowers in much-branched panicles of 16-60 cm long; calyx bell-shaped, 3-5 mm long, purplish, with 5 small teeth; corolla 12-15 mm long, deep pink to purplish-red. Fruit a pod, 1-seed, fleshy outside, hard within, 4-8 cm x 3-5 cm. |
| Anogeissus latifolia | Anogeissus latifolia is a small to medium-sized tree up to 20(-36) m tall. Bole straight and cylindrical or sometimes more poorly shaped, branchless for 8(-10) m, up to 80(-100) cm in diameter, occasionally with small buttresses; bark surface smooth or with scales, pale to dark gray; branches drooping. Leaves opposite or sub-opposite, variably distichous, simple, entire, exstipulate, with grayish-yellow or whitish hairs below. Flowers sessile, in dense, globose heads on an axillary or terminal peduncle, 5-merous, small, sepals connate in a stalk-like tube, expanded at apex into a 5- lobed cup; petals absent; stamens 10, in 2 rows; disk intrastaminal, lobed; ovary inferior, 1-locular with 2 pendulous ovules, style simple. Fruit a 2-winged pseudoachene, packed into a dense head, 1-seeded; calyx tube persistent and forming a beak. The specific epithet latifolia is in reference to its wide leaves. |
| Antiaris toxicaria | Antiaris toxicaria is a magnificent deciduous tree of the forest canopy, often 20- 40 m tall with a dome-shaped crown, drooping branchlets and hairy twigs. Large trees have clear boles and are butressed at the base. Bark smooth, pale gray, marked with lenticel dots and ring marks. When cut thin creamy latex drips out, becoming darker on exposure to air. Leaves variable, usually oval 5-16 cm x 4-11 cm, the upper half often widest to a blunt or pointed tip, the base unequal and rounded. Saplings and coppice shoots have long narrow leaves, the edge toothed- but rare in mature leaves. Mature leaves prominently veined. Leaves are rough, papery with stiff hairs above but softer below. Male flowers short-stalked, discoid head with many flowers, each flower with 2-7 tepals and 2-4 stamens, growing just below leaves. Female flowers in disc or kidney-shaped heads to 3 cm across. Ovary adnate to the perianth, 1-locular with a single ovule and 2 styles. Fruit bright red, ellipsoid, dull and furry, 1.5 cm long, the swollen receptacle contains just one seed. Some botanists have referred to all African specimens as the Asiatic species. However there appear to be 2 easily recognizable taxa in west Africa. Currently, A. toxicaria is regarded as a single species with 5 subspecies; subsp. toxicaria and macrophylla occur within the Malesian region. Other subspecies are africana, humbertii and welwitschii. The generic name is after the Malay plant name ‘antjar’, and the specific epithet comes from the Greek word ‘toxicon’-an arrow poison, alluding to its toxic properties. |
| Aucomea klaineana | Aucoumea klaineana is a dioecious, medium-sized to large evergreen tree up to 50(-60) m tall; bole cylindrical, often contorted and bent, up to 110(-240) cm in diameter, with buttresses up to 3 m high, and clear of branches up to 21 m. The bark 0.5-2 cm thick, greyish to orange-brown, smooth and spotted with white, yellow, orange or red bands (resulting from lichens) in young trees, detaching in more or less thick rectangular brown scales revealing orange bark in adult trees, lenticellate, slash strongly resinous, pinkish-red, fibrous; crown rather open structured. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate; stipules absent; rachis up to 40 cm long; leaflets 7-13, petiolule up to 4 cm long, blade ovate to oblong, 1030 cm × 4-7 cm, rounded at base, acuminate at apex, margin entire, leathery. Inflorescence an axillary or terminal panicle up to 20 cm long; male inflorescence comprising up to 5 times more flowers than the female. Flowers unisexual, regular, 5-merous; sepals lanceolate, up to 5 mm long, tomentose, greenish; petals spatulate, 5-6 mm long, tomentose on both sides, whitish; extra-staminal disk present consisting of 2-lobed nectaries; male flowers with 10 stamens and rudimentary pistil; female flowers with 10 staminodes and a superior, 5-locular ovary, each locule with 2 ovules but only 1 ovule developing. Fruit a capsule up to 5 cm × 3 cm, opening with 5 valves from the base, 5-seeded. It is monotypic, and characterized by its extra-staminal disk and dry, dehiscent fruit (pseudocapsule), which after opening releases 5 seeds covered by a winged endocarp. Seeds enclosed by endocarp (‘pyrenes’), ovoid extending into a wing 2-3 cm × 0.5 cm; cotyledons suborbicular, thin and foliaceous. |
| Bischofia javanica | Bischofia javanica is a medium to fairly large, usually deciduous tree, 30-50 m tall, bole straight or poorly shaped, branchless part usually short but sometimes up to 20 m long, up to 80(-170) cm in diameter, sometimes with steep buttresses up to 3 m high; bark fissured and scaly with small, thick shaggy scales, reddish-brown to purplish-brown, inner bark fibrous, spongy, pink, exuding a red sap; crown dense and rounded. Leaves arranged spirally, pinnately 3-foliate, glabrous; petiole 8-20 cm long; stipules oblong-triangular, papery, 7-22 mm long, early caducous, leaflets elliptical to ovate, 6-16 cm x 3-10 cm, base rounded to broadly cuneate, apex acuminate, margin finely crenate-serrate, pinately veined, shiny above, terminal leaflet long-stalked. Flowers unisexual, actinomorphic, 5-merous, small, greenish, apetalous; disc absent. Male flowers in an axillary, many-flowered, 9-20 cm long panicle; sepals united at base, hooded; stamens 5, free, opposite to the calyx lobes; pistillode broadly peltate and short-stalked. Female flowers in a lax, 15-27 cm long panicle; calyx lobes 5, caducous; staminodes very small; ovary superior, globose, 3(-4) celled, with 2 apical pendulous ovules per cell, style short, with 3 long and spreading to recurved stigmas. Fruit a globose drupe, indehiscent, 1.2-1.5 cm across, bluish-black, with a horny to leathery pericarp and fleshy mesocarp; cells 1-2 seeded. Seed oblong to ovoid, about 5 mm long, brown. The generic name commemorates Prof. G.W. Bischoff of Heidelberg, Germany, 1797-1854. |
| Bombacopsis quinata | Bombacopsis quinata reaches a height of 40 m and a trunk diameter of more than 1 m in natural stands. Its most distinguishing features are its spiny main stem, fluted base, a rather wide spreading crown of heavy branches and a somewhat irregular bole inclined to be buttressed and completely clothed with heavy prickles towards the base; bark pale greyish-brown, trunk and branches generally covered by hard, stout spines up to 2 cm long; degree of spininess is extremely variable, as some trees are completely spineless. Leaves alternate, palmate and composite, with 3-5 oblong or obovate glabrous leaflets. Fruit a woody 5-valved capsule that upon bursting frees soft brown vegetable wool enclosing 30-120 small, brown seeds. |
| Bruguiera gymnorhiza | Bruguiera gymnorhiza is an evergreen tree 8–25(-35) m tall with straight trunk 40–90 cm dbh, buttressed at the base and with many upright pneumatophores rising to 45 cm from long horizontal roots. Bark thick, smooth to roughly fissured, grey to blackish; inner bark reddish. Leaves opposite, elliptical, 9–20 cm long, 5–7 cm wide, acute at both ends, entire, without visible veins, thick, leathery, glabrous. Petiole 2–4.5 cm long. Flowers single in leaf axils, 3–4 cm long, usually drooping on stalk of 1–2.5 cm, red to yellowish or cream-coloured. Calyx with 10–14 very narrow, leathery lobes. Petals 10–14, 13–15 mm long, white, turning brown, each with 2 narrow lobes ending in 3–4 bristles. Stamens 2, nearly hidden, at base of each petal. Pistil has 3–4-celled inferior ovary, each cell with 2 ovules, stigma with 3–4 short forks. Fruits a drooping berry, ovoid or turbinate 2–2.5 cm long. Seed 1, viviparous 1.5–2 cm in diameter |
| Calodendrum capense | In the forest, Calodendrum capense is tall, up to 20 m or more in height, but in open country and on the forest margin it is shorter and more spreading. Trunk is grey and smooth even in old trees and often buttressed and lichen covered in the forest. Branches are opposite, the young ones hairy and flexible, soon becoming smooth and more rigid. Leaves simple, without stipules, opposite, untoothed, borne on short stalks, 5-13 (max. 22) x 3.5-7.5 cm; dark green, oval or oblong, aromatic, tips bluntly pointed or round, base tapering to slightly lobed, margin entire and rather wavy, midrib conspicuous on the undersurface. Parallel veins conspicuous, branching out almost at right angles from the midrib to the edge of the leaves; blades studded with oil glands appearing as tiny spots when the leaf is held to the light. Flowers borne in rather open terminal sprays or panicles, bisexual; petals 5, long, narrow, hairy, 4 x 0.5 cm, curling downwards, with a faint sweet scent; alternating with 5 petallike stamens or staminodes, which are slender, graceful, longer than the petals, dotted with crimson or purple glandular dots, upright. Petals and staminodes together make a light, airy flower in shades of rich pink or mauve marked purple or wine red, very occasionally white; fertile stamens 5, with 5 white filaments, as long as the petals, bearing purple-brown anthers; ovary glandular, on a long gynophore. Fruit knobbly, 5-valved, brown and woody capsule, 3.5-6 cm in diameter, containing several seeds. Seeds small, 1.5 cm long, angled, oily, jet black or black striped with white edge, smooth. The generic name comes from the Greek words ‘kalos’, meaning ‘beautiful’ and ‘dendron’, meaning ‘tree’; the specific name ‘capense’ means from the Cape. |
| Canarium indicum | Canarium indicum is an evergreen, dioecious, medium-sized to fairly large tree to 40 m tall and a diameter of up to 100 cm. The crown is large, dense crown and buttresses are upto m high. The bark is grey or brownish-grey to yellow-brown, smooth to scaly and dippled; inner bark laminated, reddish-brown to pinkish-brown, exuding a milky resin. Leaves imparipinnate, arranged spirally with 7-15 opposite leaflets; leaflets oblong, 13.5-36 by 4.4-21 cm, base rounded and slightly asymmetrical, apex acuminate, margin entire, glabrous; petiole 9 cm long. The stipule ovate to oblong, persistent, large and prominently dentate, rarely inserted on the petiole. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, broadly paniculate, 15-30 cm long; flowers numerous, creamy white, 3 merous; male flower 10 mm long, stamens 6, female ones up to 15 mm long. Fruit blue-black drupe, 35-60 mm by 15-30 mm, endocarp hard, thin and brittle, ovoid, circular to slightly triangular in cross-section, glabrous, and in groups of 6-12. Seeds brown, 3.5 by 2 cm, oily, palmatifid to 3 foliolate and variously folded cotyledons. The family Burseraceae consists of 16 genera and about 550 species in the tropical regions of both hemispheres. The genus Canarium (derived from the Malay name ‘kanari’, the local name for one of the species), contains about 75 species of trees which are mainly found in tropical Asia and the Pacific, and a few species in tropical Africa. |
| Canarium schweinfurthii | Canarium schweinfurthii is a large forest tree with its crown reaching to the upper canopy of the forest, with a long clean, straight and cylindrical bole exceeding 50 m. Diameter above the heavy root swellings can be up to 4.5 m. Bark thick, on young tree fairly smooth, becoming increasingly scaly and fissured with age. The slash is reddish or light brown with turpentine like odour, exuding a heavy, sticky oleoresin that colours to sulphur yellow and becomes solid. Leaves are pinnate, clustered at the end of the branches, and may be 15-65 cm long, with 8-12 pairs of leaflets, mostly opposite, oblong, cordate at base, 5-20 cm long and 3-6 cm broad, with 12-24 main lateral nerves on each side of the mid-rib, prominent and pubescent beneath. The lower leaflets are bigger than the upper ones. The lower part of the petiole is winged on the upper side. The creamy white unisexual flowers about 1 cm long grow in inflorescences that stand in the axils of the leaves and may be up to 28 cm long. The fruit is a small drupe, bluish-purple, glabrous, 3-4 cm long and 1-2 cm thick. The calyx is persistent and remains attached to the fruit. The fruit contains a hard spindle-shaped, trigonous stone that eventually splits releasing 3 seeds. Canarium comes from the vernacular name ‘kenari’ in the Molucca Isles. |
| Casuarina glauca | Casuarina glauca is a medium-sized tree 8-20 m high, often with buttressed and fluted stem; rarely a shrub to about 2 m that frequently regenerates through vigorous root suckers. Branchlets spreading or drooping, to 38 cm long. Bark hard, grey or grey-brown, finely fissured and scaly, with a tessellated appearance. Leaves 8-20 mm long and 0.9-1.2 mm in diameter, glabrous; leaf-teeth in whorls of 12-17, rarely 20, erect, 0.6-0.9 mm long. Leaf-teeth on new shoots long and recurved. Male flowers, clusters with pollen along 1.2-4 cm of the tips of some branchlets 7-10 whorls/cm. Rounded female ‘cones’ are 3-12 mm on stalked heads, hairy when young, reddish- to white-pubescent, becoming glabrous, about 6 mm, with dark red stigmas. Mature woody cones subglobose to shortly cylindrical, 9-18 x 7-9 mm, bracteoles broadly acute, opening to release 1 pale, winged nutlet 3.5-5 mm long. Casuarina is from the Malay word ‘kasuari’, which indicates the supposed resemblance of the twigs to the plumage of the cassowary bird. One of the common names of Casuarina species, ‘she-oak’, widely used in Australia, refers to the attractive wood pattern of large lines or rays similar to oak but weaker. The species name is derived from the Greek ‘glaukos’, in reference to the glaucous or bluish-green foliage. |
| Ceiba pentandra | Ceiba pentandra is a tall, deciduous tree bearing short, sharp prickles all along the trunk and branches; supported by pronounced buttresses at the base. It has a light crown and is leafless for a long period. The leaf is glabrous and digitate, being composed of 5, 7 or 9 leaflets. Leaves are alternate with slender green petioles. There are usually 5 leaflets in a mature form. The leaflets hang down on short stalks; short pointed at the base and apex, not toothed on edges, thin, bright to dark green above and dull green beneath. Great quantities of flowers are in lateral clusters near the ends of the twigs. Calyx cup-shaped, with 5-10 shallow teeth. Petals 5, white to rose coloured; brown, silky, densely hairy on the outer surface; stamens 5, longer than petals, united into a column at the base. Pistil a 5-celled ovary with a long style curved near the apex and an enlarged stigma. Fruit a leathery, ellipsoid, pendulous capsule, 10-30 cm long, usually tapering at both ends, rarely dehiscing on the tree. White, pale yellow or grey floss originates from the inside wall of the fruit. Seed capsules split open along 5 lines. Each capsule releases 120-175 seeds rounded black seeds embedded in a mass of grey woolly hairs. Seeds dark brown. The generic name comes from a local South American word. The specific name, ‘pentandra’, is Latin for ‘five-stemmed’; from the Greek word ‘penta’ (five) and ‘andron’ (male). |
| Chrysophyllum albidum | Chrysophyllum albidum is a small to medium buttressed tree species, up to 25-37 m in height with a mature girth varying from 1.5 to 2 m. Bole is usually fluted, frequently free of branches for 21 m. Bark thin, pale brownish-green, slash exuding white, gummy latex. Leaves are simple, dark green above, pale tawny below when young and silver-white below when mature, oblong-elliptic to elongate obovate elliptic, 12-30 cm long, 3.8-10 cm broad; apex shortly acuminate, base cuneate; primary lateral nerves widely spaced, 9-14 on each side of the midrib; secondary lateral nerves indistinct or invisible; petiole 1.7-4.2 cm long. Flowers shortly pedicellate, in dense clusters in the leaf axils or from above the scars of fallen leaves; calyx 5-lobed, 3 mm long, rusty pubescent outside, creamy white, the lobes equaling the tube in length. Fruits almost spherical, slightly pointed at the tip, about 3.2 cm in diameter, greenish-grey when immature, turning orange-red, yellow-brown or yellow, sometimes with speckles, 5 celled, with 5 brown seeds in yellowish, pleasantly acid pulp. Seeds 1-1.5 x 2 cm, beanlike, shiny when ripe, compressed, with one sharp edge and a star-shaped arrangement in the fruit. The generic name is based on Greek words for ‘gold’ and ‘leaf’ and refers to the leaves of some species that are often covered with golden hairs underneath. |
| Cola nitida | Cola nitida is an understorey, evergreen tree, generally growing 9-12 m high, sometimes reaching 27 m, with a diameter up to 1.5 m, narrow buttresses extending for 1 m in old trees, or absent, bole not always straight and cylindrical; bark grey or greyish brown, rough with longitudinal fissures; slash pinkish red, thick and fibrous, darkening to brown on exposure. Leaves simple, alternate, petiolate; petiole 1.2-10 cm long; blade broadly oblong to broadly elliptic or elliptic-oblanceolate, 10-33 x 5-13 cm, apex abruptly and shortly acuminate, base obtuse or rounded, margins wavy, glabrous or nearly so; leathery, dark green lateral nerves 6-10. Inflorescence axillary, an irregularly branched panicles 5-10 cm long, shorter than the leaves; flowers unisexual, 5-merous, apetalous. Male flowers with cup-shaped calyx, about 2 cm in diameter, deeply lobed, stamens numerous, in two whorls. Female flowers with calyx about 5 cm in diameter, with 5 carpels and numerous rudimentary anthers at the base. Fruits oblong-ellipsoid follicles 13 x 7 cm, green, shiny-surfaced, smooth to the touch but knobbly with large tubercules. Seeds 4-8 (10) per carpel, ovoid or subglobose 3-3.5 x 2-2.5 cm, either red or white. |
| Cordia alliodora | Cordia alliodora grows to over 40 m. Bole generally straight, cylindrical; often clear of branches for up to 50-60% of the total tree height. May or may not be buttressed; on shallow soils, buttresses may extend 1-1.5 m up the trunk. On good sites, C. alliodora typically achieves a diameter at breast height of 30-50 cm, although it may exceed 1 m. Bark smooth; greenish colour when young, greenish-black, smooth or narrowly fissured when mature. The thin, tough, pale underbark darkens rapidly on exposure to light. Some trees have pronounced nodal swellings where the branches have been shed. Leaves simple, alternate, up to 5 cm wide and 18 cm long, pointed at the base. Upper leaf surface may have scattered hairs when young but becomes smooth when mature; lower surface covered with stellate hairs. Petioles 1-2 cm long; slender and sparsely haired, like the greenish twigs. Flowers hermaphroditic, unspecialized, about 1 cm in length; occur in a large, auxiliary terminal inflorescence with flowers as few as 50 up to as many as 3000. The generic name honours a 16th century German botanist, Valerius Cordus. The species is named ‘alliodora’ because of the garlic odour that the leaves emit when they are crushed. |
| Cryptomeria japonica | Cryptomeria japonica is an evergreen tree that grows to a height of 35-60 m and attains a bole diameter of 1-3 m. Trunk straight, in old trees massive, buttressed; bark thin on young trees, smooth, purplish-brown, on large trees 2-3 cm thick, reddish-brown, weathering grey, exfoliating in long, shredding strips. Branches spreading to assurgent, forming a conical crown in young trees, self-pruning to leave a clear bole in large trees. Branch foliage dense, with leaves lasting 6-12 years, shedding not individual leaves but ultimate lateral branchlets which persist 4-8 years, these variable in length, spreading but incurved in various degrees, directed forward, linear-subulate, slightly flattened laterally, distinctly keeled abaxially, leathery, stiff, green, 3-20 (-25 but free up to 18 mm long) by 1-2 mm, apex acute; in juvenile leaves there are 2-3 resin ducts, in mature leaves this number is usually reduced to a single duct on the abaxial side of the stele. Flowers monoecious, male catkins long, clustered at the end of branchlets, anther cells 3-5 at the base of scales, near but above seed cones, axillary and crowded toward the ends of 2nd year branchlets, 3-6 x 2-3 mm, elongating up to 10 mm when ripe to shed pollen. Seed cones terminal on down-curved branchlets with normal leaves, often aggregated or solitary, occasionally with proliferating vegetative short shoot at apex, globose, squarrose with spreading bract-scale complexes, soft, woody, 12-25 mm diameter. Seeds 2-5 per bract-scale complex depending on space available when intercalary scale tissue develops, 4-5 by 3 mm, flattened, irregularly ovate with 2 wings of unequal (1-1.5 mm) width forming a strip around the seed. This is a monotypic timber-yielding genus. The generic name is derived from the Greek works cryptos (hidden), and meros (part), because the parts of the flower are not easy to distinguish. |
| Delonix regia | Delonix regia is a tree 10-15 (max. 18) m high, attaining a girth of up to 2 m; trunk large, buttressed and angled towards the base; bark smooth, greyish-brown, sometimes slightly cracked and with many dots (lenticels); inner bark light brown; crown umbrella shaped, spreading with the long, nearly horizontal branches forming a diameter that is wider than the tree’s height; twigs stout, greenish, finely hairy when young, becoming brown. Roots shallow. Leaves biparipinnate, alternate, light green, feathery, 20-60 cm long; 10-25 pairs of pinnae, 5-12 cm long, each bearing 12-40 pairs of small oblong-obtuse leaflets that are about 0.5-2 cm long and 0.3 cm wide; petiole stout. The numerous leaflets are stalkless, rounded at the base and apex, entire thin, very minutely hairy on both sides, green on the upper surface. At the base of the leaf stalk, there are 2 compressed stipules that have long, narrow, comblike teeth. Corymbs 15-30 cm long, borne laterally near the end of the twig, each with loosely arranged, slightly fragrant flowers; flowers 5-13 cm across, with 5 equal petals, on slender stalks 5-7.6 cm long. Petals 5-6.5 cm long, 2-3 cm wide, orbicular, broadly spoon shaped, rounded but broader than long, slightly wavy-margined or crisp, tapering into claws about 2.5 cm long, widely extended and bending backwards before falling. Petals 4, orange-red, almost scarlet, 1 longer and narrower than the others, whitish inside with red spots and streaks; stalk very long, slender and hairy. Sepals 5, thick, green outside and reddish with yellow border within, reflexed when the flowers open, pointed, finely hairy, about 2.5 cm long. Stamens 5 with 10 red filaments; pistil has a hairy 1-celled ovary about 1.3 cm long and slender style about 3 cm long. Fruit green and flaccid when young, turning to dark brown, hard, woody pods, 30-75 cm long, 3.8 cm thick, 5-7.6 cm broad, ending in a short beak when mature, with many horizontally partitioned seed chambers inside, indehiscent, finally splitting into 2 parts. The conspicuous pods hang down and remain attached most of the year even when the trees are leafless. Seeds 30-45, hard, greyish, glossy, to 2 cm long, oblong and shaped very much like date seeds, transversely mottled with a bony testa. They are arranged at right angles to the length of the pod. The generic name, ‘Delonix’, is derived from a Greek delos (visible), and onyx (claw), in allusion to the conspicuously clawed petals. The specific name, ‘regia’, is from the Latin word ‘regis’ (royal, regal, magnificent). Most of its common names are derived from its large, flame-red flowers. |
| Diospyros ebenum | D. ebenum is a slow-growing medium-sized tree up to 30 m tall and up to 90 cm in diameter. Bole straight, with buttresses up to 2 m high; crown dense. Bark surface scaly, fissured, black to grey-black. Leaves ovate-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 5-13 cm x 2-6 cm, base cuneate to rounded, apex slightly acuminate to rounded, glabrous, tertiary venation reticulate, inconspicuous above, prominent below. Flowers mostly male and bisexual; male flowers in 3-16-flowered cymes, 4-merous, stamens 16; female and bisexual flowers solitary, 3-4 merous, calyx lobes valvate, glabrous, corolla divided to about halfway, staminodes 8, ovary with a single 4-5-lobed style and 8 uni-ovulate locules. Fruit depressed globose to subglobose, up to 1.5 cm across, glabrous. D. ebenum has been known for its black wood since ancient times. |
| Diospyros mespiliformis | Diospyros mespiliformis is a tall, evergreen tree 15-50 m high, with dense, rounded and buttressed stem. Bark grey-black or black, smooth in young trees rough with small regular scales in older trees, pinkish when slashed. Young branchlets are green, tomentellous with pinkish-white hairs, glabrescent later. Crown is very branchy with dense foliage. Leaves alternate, shiny-green above, paler beneath, 4-7 cm long, 1.5-5.5 cm wide, oblong elliptic or oblolanceolate-elliptic, rarely lanceolate-elliptic, pubescent when young later becoming glabrescent or with few persistent, appressed hairs beneath, acute or subacuminate at the apex, cuneate or rounded at base with impressed midrib above, prominent beneath. Flowers pentamerous, white and fragrant. Male flowers sessile hairy and clustered on axillary peduncles. Female flowers solitary, shortly pedicellate and axillary with a 5-lobed calyx. Fruits usually globose, fleshy, up to 3 cm in diameter, greenish and pubescent when young, yellowish to orange yellow and glabrous when ripe, bell shaped, with persistent style and enlarged calyx and contain 4-6 seeds. Seeds, dark brown, bean-shaped shiny and glabrous. The generic name Diospyros means ‘divine pear’, and the specific name mespiliformis is derived from two words,‘mesos’ meaning half, and ‘pilos’, which is bullets. |
| Dracontomelon dao | Dracontomelon dao is a large tree up to 45(-55) m tall, bole branchless for up to 20(-25) m, up to 100(-150) cm in diameter, with narrow buttresses up to 6 m high, bark surface irregularly scaly, greyish-brown with brown or greenish patches, inner bark pink or red. Leaves arranged spirally, crowded towards the ends of twigs, large, imparipinnate; leaf rachis 6-25(-44) cm long, leaflets (7-)9-19, alternate to opposite, 4.5-20(-27) cm x 2-7(-10.5) cm, glabrous or sometimes pubescent below, with hairy domatia. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, paniculate; bracts and bracteoles caducous; flowers bisexual, actinomorphic, 5-merous, slightly fragrant, white to greenish-white, 7-10 mm long, in panicles of up to 50 cm long; petals valvate but imbricate at the apical part, puberulous outside or on both surfaces, or glabrous; stamens 10, in 2 whorls, those opposite the calyx lobes longer than those alternating with them, filaments glabrous, anthers dorsified, disk intrastaminal, puberulous but glabrescent, or glabrous; pistil composed of 5 carpels which are free but connate at base and apically, ovary superior, 5-celled with a single ovule in each cell, styles 5, stigma capitate with the stigmatic tissue lateral. Fruit a drupe, globose, 5-celled, or seemingly 1-celled by abortion, each cell with a distinct operculum, endocarp woody and hard. Seed pendulous from an apical, axial placenta. The specific epithet is the common name for the species in Filipino. |
| Durio zibethinus | Durio zibethinus is a medium to large buttressed tree, up to 45 m tall in dense lowland forests and 10-15 m in orchards and backyards; bark dark red brown, peeling off irregularly. Leaves elliptic or lanceolate-elliptic, 10-15 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, papery; base acute; apex acuminate, upper surface glabrous, glossy, lower surface densely covered with silvery or golden scales; secondary veins in about 15 pairs, distinctly looping near the margin; venation indistinct below. Petioles 1-1.5 cm long, angular. Flowers in fascicles of corymbose inflorescences. Pedicels 5-7 cm long; calyx saccate, flattened at the base, with tube about 2 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter; petals white or creamy, spathulate, 5 cm long and 2 cm wide at the broadest part. Stamen white, 4 cm long in 5 distinct phalanges, each filament with up to 12 reniform anthers dehiscing by a slit. Ovary ovoid; style slender, 4 cm long, stigma yellow. Fruit varies greatly in size; 15-25 cm in diameter, green to yellowish brown, with spines that are variable in length and shape. Seeds chestnut-brown, completely enclosed in a thick, white or yellow, soft, sweet, fragrant aril. The generic epithet is derived from the Malay word 'duri' (thorn), alluding to the spiny fruit. |
| Ekebergia capensis | Ekebergia capensis is an evergreen or semi-deciduous, medium-sized to large tree, 7-20 (max. 35) m tall. Stem swollen at base; may be tall and fluted in forests and much shorter or unfluted in the open; it may also be buttressed. Branching is erect, then spreading and finally drooping, giving a moderately heavy, flattish crown; 2nd year branchlets slender, usually less than 6 mm in diameter, marked by old, circular leaf scars and conspicuously dotted with white lenticels. Bark grey, grey-brown to almost black, often mottled, smooth or rough, sometimes flaking in small circles or squares; slash red with white streaks. Leaves compound, 10-36 cm long, 8-18 cm broad, with common midrib, sometimes slightly winged, alternate; stalks jointed to the stem and leaving a scar on falling. Leaflets usually in 3-5 pairs, occasionally up to 7, with a terminal leaflet, leathery, opposite, almost stalkless and smooth; may be long and rather narrow, tapering to the point, broadly oval or almost egg-shaped, glossy green; sessile. Flowers small, greenish-yellow or white, occasionally touched with pink, 5-petalled, borne in panicles that are long, branching heads, in the axils of leaves; male and female on different trees, sweetly scented, produced in loose sprays about 8 cm long. Each panicle consists of 12-70 flowers, making the tree very conspicuous when in full bloom. Fruits round, resembling small apples, thin skinned, almost spherical, 1-2 cm in diameter, succulent, with a faint onionlike taste, sweet scent, long stalks, turning pink to bright red when mature with a whitish flesh; drying and splitting to release seeds. Seeds white, oval, 2-4 or occasionally only 1. The generic name, ‘Ekebergia’, is in honour of Captain Carl Gustaf Ekeberg (1716-1784); the specific name, ‘capensis’, means ‘of the Cape’. |
| Endospermum malaccense | Endospermum malaccense is a medium to large dioecious tree to 40 m high and a diameter of 3 m with diffused dome-shaped crowns. The bole is stout and columnar with thick equal to steep fluted buttresses. The bark of this species is grey-fawn, smooth, hooped and becoming regose to scaly patches. Inner bark is thick and coarsely granular, cream with orange flecks. Leaves cordate, 7-25 cm x 4-22 cm, clustered at the end of twigs; leaf blades rounded to strongly heart-shaped at the base while leaf stalks are 13 cm long with two prominently raised glands at the junction of the leaf-blade. Flowers an erect spikes, 15 cm long and protruding above the leaves; male flower yellow, short side axes, 9-11 stamens and fragrant; the female flower white with a 2-3 celled ovary and a 1.5 mm wide stigma. Fruits rounded or occasionally bilobed, 13 cm wide, with finely velvety blue-green walls containing white coloured sap. |
| Entandrophragma utile | Entandrophragma utile is a large tree up to 60 m and more in height, with a DBH of more than 250 cm. Crown regular with few massive branches, leaves clustered at branchlet ends. Bole long, cylindrical, scarcely tapered; butresses rounded, extending up the bole for 2-5 m. Bark thick (up to 4 cm) grey-brown, regularly cracked and fissured into squarish, scale-like pieces which persist on the tree. Leaves pinnate, up to 50 cm long, leaflets 16-32, opposite, subopposite or alternate, oblong-lanceolate, up to 14 x 5 cm; apex gradually acuminate, base unequally rounded and usually subcordate; lower surface almost glabrous; venation closely reticulate. Leaf petiole slightly winged, covered with short rusty hairs. Inflorescence up to 20 cm long, calyx tomentollous, scarcely lobed. Petals 0.5 cm long, densely puberulous to tomentollous. Staminal tube 0.3 cm long, urceolate, margin subentire. Capsule club-shaped, rounded at the apex, 14-21 x 4.5 cm; valves 0.8 cm thick, thickened and incurved at the apex, dehiscing from the apex and remaining firmly attached at the base. Seeds 9.5 x 2 cm, dark brown, obliquely truncate at the base. The leaves of this species are easily mistaken for those of Canarium schweinfurthii in herbaria. This tree has been extensively exploited in Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. Its wild populations are greatly diminished. |
| Enterolobium cyclocarpum | Enterolobium cyclocarpum is one of the largest trees in the dry forest formation, reaching up to 40 m in height and 3 m in diameter, with a huge, spreading crown. Older E. cyclocarpum trees develop small buttresses and produce large roots that run along the surface of the ground for 2-3 m. Sidewalks, roads, or foundations may be cracked or raised by E. cyclocarpum trees growing close by. The bipinnate compound leaves of E. cyclocarpum have 5 opposite leaflets. The small white flowers occur in compact, round heads. Seeds contained in distinctive, thickened, contorted, indehiscent pods that resemble an ear in form; seed 20 x 15 mm, ovate, compressed, dull, reddish-brown, with 100% pleurogram, marked with a yellowish band on each face, punctiform apical hilium concealed or not by whitish funicle; adult trees produce about 2000 pods, each with 10-16 seeds. |
| Erythrina fusca | Erythrina fusca is a medium to large spreading tree, reaching 10-15 (max. 26) m tall; crown rounded; trunk short, spiny (spines 1-2 cm long), much branched, sometimes buttressed to 2 m; bark brownish-grey or olive-brown, flaky; branches spreading, spiny; branchelets stout, spineless or aculeate. Leaves alternate, trifoliate; stipules and stipels orbicular, caducous; petiole up to 25 cm long, sometimes sparsely prickly; rachis up to 5 cm long, petiolule up to 1.5 cm; leaflets ovate to elliptical. Inflorescence racemose, terminal, appearing when leaves are present, with pale brick-red or salmon flowers in fascicles scattered along the rachis, covered with deciduous, ferruginous hairs, mostly unarmed peduncle up to 13 cm long; rachis 8-30 cm long; pedicel up to 2 cm long; stamens 10, 4-6 cm long, 1 free, 9 united in lower half into staminal tube; pistil 4-6 cm long; ovary densely pubescent. Fruit a woody, linear compressed pod, dehiscent, slightly constricted between 3-15 seeds; stipe stout, 1.5 cm long; beak 2 cm long, velvety, ferruginously hairy when young, later glabrescent; seeds oblong-ellipsoid, 12-18 x 5-8 mm, dark brown or black. Erythrina comes from the Greek word ‘eruthros’-red, alluding to the showy red flowers of the Erythrina species. The specific name, ‘fusca’, is a Latin word for tawny or brownish-grey. |
| Eucalyptus deglupta | Eucalyptus deglupta is a huge evergreen tree of up to 60 (max. 75) m tall; bole generally of good form, 50-70% of the tree height, up to 240 cm in diameter, sometimes with buttresses 3-4 m high; bark smooth, yellow, brown, and purple, but green after flaking; twigs 4-sided, often with 4 longitudinal wings. Juvenile leaves opposite, ovate to lanceolate; adult leaves opposite to subopposite, rarely alternate, shortly petiolate, held almost horizontal on branches, ovate to ovate-lanceolate or acuminate, thicker than juvenile leaves, 7.5-15 (max. 20) x 5-7.5 (max. 10) cm. Flowers 3-7 umbels in terminal or axillary panicles 5-20 x 5-18 cm; pedicels terete or slightly angular, about 5 mm long; young buds small, green with double opercula; developed buds pale green or cream, globular, apiculate, 0.2-0.4 x 0.2-0.5 mm, operculum hemispherical, apiculate and wider than long; flowers with many white to pale yellow stamens 2-10 mm long, strongly reflexed in the unopened bud; anther dehiscing by separate slits. Fruit pedicallate, hemispherical, with 3-4 valves, thin, deltoid, exserted to 2 mm, making the capsule appear globular, 3-5 x 3-5 mm, and disc very narrow; mature fruits brown to dark brown, containing 3-12 well-formed seeds per valve; seeds minute, brown, flattened, with a small terminal wing. The genus Eucalyptus was described and named in 1788 by the French botanist l’Héritier. The flowers of the various Eucalyptus species are protected by an operculum, hence the generic name, which comes from the Greek words ‘eu’ (well), and ‘calyptos’ (covered). |
| Ficus religiosa | Ficus religiosa is an evergreen or deciduous tree, 20 m tall and 1.5-2 m dbh, irregularly-shaped, with wide-spreading branches and without aerial roots from the branches. The trunk is regularly shaped, often with low buttresses. Bark is grey with brownish specks, smooth, exfoliating in irregular rounded flakes. Leaves alternate, spirally arranged and broadly ovate, glossy, coriaceous (leathery), dark green leaves, 10-18 by 7.5-10 cm, with unusual tail-like tips, pink when young, stipulate, base-cordate. Petioles is slender and 7.5-10 cm long. Galls on leaves. Flowers axillary sessile, unisexual. Figs in pairs, rounded, flat-topped green, to 1.5 cm across, axillary, sessile, smooth, ripening to purple with red dots, basal bracts 3 and broad. The specific epithet ‘religiosa’ alludes to the religious significance attached to this tree. The prince Siddhartha is said to have sat and meditated under this tree and there found enlightment from which time he became a Buddha. The tree is therefore sacred to Buddhists and is planted beside temples |
| Ficus sycomorus | Ficus sycomorus is a large, semi-deciduous spreading savannah tree, up to 21 (max. 46) m, occasionally buttressed. Bark on young stems pale green with a soft powdery covering; on older stems, grey-green, fairly smooth, with scattered grey scales and pale brown patches where scales have fallen off. Slash pale pink with heavy latex flow. Leaves broadly (ob)ovate or elliptic, base (sub)cordate, apex rounded or obtuse, margin entire or slightly repand -dentate, 2.5-13 (max. 21) x 2-10 (max. 16) cm, scabrous above, petiole 1-5 cm, 5-7 pairs of yellow lateral veins, lowest pair originating at the leaf base. Flowers, unisexual, cyclic and greenish. Figs in leaf axils or on up to 10 cm leafless branches on old wood, solitary or paired, globose or (ob)ovoid, yellow-red to reddish-purple when ripe, up to 3.5 x 5 cm, pubescent or almost glabrous. Seeds, numerous, round and very tiny. Ficus is the Latin for fig, derived from the Persian ‘fica’. In Greek ‘syka’ means fig. The species name comes from the Greek ‘sykamorea’ (sycamore), used in the Gospel according to St. Luke; it was such a tree that Jesus cursed because it was barren. But the word ‘sykomorom’ had been used to denote the fruit a century before Christ. It has since been applied as a popular name to many sorts of tree, including Acer pseudoplatanus and Platanus ocidentalis. |
| Hopea odorata | Hopea odorata is a medium-sized to large evergreen tree with a large crown growing to 45 m tall, bole straight, cylindrical, branchless to 25 m, with diameter of up to 4.5 m or more and prominent buttresses, bark surface scaly, grey to dark brown, longitudinally furrowed, yellow or reddish inside. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 7-14 by 3-7 cm, falcate, base broadly cuneate, venation scalariform, midrib applanate to slightly channeled above, glabrous on both surfaces, petiole 2 cm long, slender. Flowers small, sweet scented, yellowish-white, very shortly pedicelled, in one-sided racemes, stamens 15, anthers narrowly ellipsoid, ovary ovoid, punctate or glabrous. Fruit small, ovoid, wings oblanceolate, rounded, 3-4 cm long, finely veined lengthwise. The specific epithet means odour and refers to the sweet smell of the flowers. |
| Intsia bijuga | Intsia bijuga is a common medium-sized, unarmed tree of up to 35-(50) m in height. Mature trees have steep rounded buttresses which when fully developed can exceed 4 m. It has been suggested that these buttresses grant the Moluccan ironwood competitive advantage by preventing establishment of competing individuals in the space occupied by the buttresses. The bole can be crooked or straight but the crown is usually spreading and branchlets are glabrous. Leaves paripinnate and semi-deciduous, leaflets 1-6 varying in shape from broadly ovate to obovate, oblong or subfalcate and thinly coriaceous. Inflorescence 5-18 cm varying from very corymbiformly racemose to racemiform. Flowers white and arranged in dense terminal panicles. Bracts, bracteoles and calyx densely short-hairy to glabrous. Pedicels 1-2.25 cm, calyx-tube 7-15 mm segments 9-19 mm. Petals often red or pink in colour. Fruit pod oblong or pear shaped, 8-23 cm x 4-8 cm. Pod leathery,woody and tardily dehiscent usually containing 1-9 seeds. The genus Intsia has 7-9 species of tropical distribution. Intsia is closely related to Afzelia. It is difficult to assign sterile material to either genus. Intsia differs from Afzelia by its three fertile stamens, its flat seeds lacking an aril and its leathery pods. I. bijuga is the most widespread representative of the genus in the Malesian region. I. bijuga seems seriously threatened due to its overexploitation, however, its inclusion in Appendix II of CITES in 1992 was thwarted by Malaysia’s objection. |
| Irvingia wombolu | Irvingia wombolu is a tree to 25-30 m tall, butressed up to 2 m. The stem is often leaning and glabrous. The first branches are usually at a height of 7-10 m. Foliage regular, not as dense as in the Irvingia gabonensis. Leaves simple, alternate, entire, obovate, and less leathery, length 10.5-14 cm, width 4-8.5 cm, leaf apex rounded, often with a barely distinct blunt acumen, base obtuse to acute, occasionally very shortly cuneate. Leaf stipules leave an annular scar around the stem when they fall off. Fruit with green skin which may turn yellow on ripening. Flesh of fruit yellow, soft, juicy and fibrous, extremely bitter and inedible. When the flesh rots away the fruit the shell may have some curly fibres attached to it. The shell wall is less than 7 mm thick and is easy to break open using a wooden club or a stone. This tree closely resembles Irvingia gabonensis, genetic data indicates significant differences between the two, supporting (Harris 1996) conclusion that the taxa are distinct genetic entities. The genus name commemorates E.G. Irving, 1816-1855, a Scottish botanist. |
| Khaya senegalensis | Khaya senegalensis is a deciduous evergreen tree, 15-30 m high, up to 1 m in diameter, with a clean bole to 8-16 m, buttresses not prominent or absent; bark dark grey, with small, thin, reddish-tinged scales; slash dark pink to bright crimson, exuding a red sap. Leaves alternate, compound, stipules absent; petiole and rachis 13-33 cm long; leaflets 3-4 (max. 7) usually opposite pairs, oblong to narrowly oblong-elliptic, 4-12 x 2-5 cm, apex acute to shortly acuminate, base rounded, margins entire, pale green, lateral nerves 8-16, petiolules about 3.5 cm long. Inflorescence a lax, much-branched axillary panicle up to 17 cm long; flowers tetramerous, monoecious but with well-developed vestiges of those of the opposite sex with very little external differences between sexes. Calyx pale green, lobed almost to the base, lobes subcircular, about 1 x 1 mm, imbricate; petals cream, free, oblong-ovate, 4 x 2.5 mm, contorted in bud; orange disk around the ovary. Fruit an upright, almost spherical, woody capsule, 4-6 cm in diameter, opening by 4 valves from the apex (a distinction from K. ivorensis, which is closely related but has 5 valves). Seeds brown, 6 or more per cell, broadly transversely ellipsoid to flat, about 25 x 18 mm, margins narrowly winged. The specific name means ‘of Senegal’, which is where the type specimen was collected. |
| Lovoa swynnertonii | Lovoa swynnertonii is an evergreen tree up to 50 m in height. Bole fluted or slightly buttressed at the base to a height of 2 m, long and straight, sometimes 30 m to first branch, slender, up to 2 m in diameter. Bark brown-grey to black, fairly smooth, flaking in round pieces 2-30 cm across. Leaves up to 30 cm long, pubescent when young; leaflets usually 10-16, oblong-elliptic or lanceolate-elliptic, slightly falcate, up to 10 x 4 cm, apex shortly acuminate, base cuneate; lateral nerves in 16 closely spaced pairs; petiole flattened. Inflorescence an axillary panicle up to 10 cm long; calyx 0.1 cm long, puberulous especially on the margins. Petals 0.25-0.3 cm long. Capsule up to 5.5 x 2 cm; valves brownish black, with scattered, minute, white lenticels, separating first from the apex and remaining attached for some time before falling. Seeds, including wing, up to 4.5 x 1 cm. The generic name Lovoa is after River Lovoi in Congo. |
| Madhuca utilis | Madhuca utilis is a large tree up to 50 m tall with bole up to 1 m in diameter and buttresses up to 2 m high. Leaves closely clustered at tips of twigs, obovate to spatulate, 4-12.5(-18) cm x 1.5-6 cm, secondary veins joined in irregular arches near margin, glabrous and glaucous beneath, stipules up to 3 mm long, caducous Flowers with sepals yellowish-brown woolly outside and glabrous inside except near tips, 8-9-lobed corolla sparsely woolly outside and glabrous inside except between stamens, 10-16 stamens and glabrous ovary. Fruit ellipsoid to fusiform, 3.5-5.5 cm x 1.5-3 cm, with woody or fleshy pericarp, 1-seeded. Seed 3-4 cm long, with thin, brown testa and very large greyish scar, endosperm very thin or absent, cotyledons thick. |
| Milicia excelsa | Milicia excelsa is a large deciduous tree 30-50 m high, with a diameter of 2-10 m; bark thick, pale, ash grey to nearly black, then brown, usually fairly rough and flaking off in small scales, but seldom fissured; slash thick, fibrous, cream coloured with brown spots, exuding white latex; trunk lofty, straight and cylindrical, up to 20 m or more to the 1st branches, usually with short, blunt buttresses; crown high, umbrella-like and growing from a few thick branches; branchlets thick, rather zigzag and angular, all more or less horizontal. Branches of female trees hang down but male individuals have upright branches. Leaves in young trees sandpapery and green above, paler and pubescent below; older leaves often becoming a bright yellow, serrulate at the margin, simple, alternate, 9-20 x 5-10 cm, broadly elliptic or ovate, very shortly acuminate, usually unequally glabrous above and beneath except for minute hairs between the network of veins; about 15 pairs thick parallel, upcurving, pale-coloured lateral nerves, very prominent beneath and looped close to the margin; ultimate veins thick and forming a highly characteristic, more or less rectangular network on the under surface; base subcordate; apex shortly acuminate; edge finely toothed; stalk 2.5-6 cm, stout, glabrous. Flowers dioecious, axillary, greenish, all floral parts in 4s; male flowers white, closely crowded on pendulous, slender catkins (spikes) 15-20 cm long, dangling from twigs of the outer crown. Female trees produce erect flower spikes about 5-6 cm long and 2 cm thick; female flowers greenish, in shorter and much fatter spikes, the styles of each flower projecting so that the inflorescence appears hairy. Fruit arranged along a longitudinal axis with 1 seed on each side, 5-7.5 x 2-2.5 cm, green, wrinkled, fleshy and resembling a fat green caterpillar; no change in the colour of the syncarp when mature, but the flesh between the actual fruit softens. Seeds hard, small and lie in the pulp. |
| Neobalanocarpus heimii | Neobalanocarpus heimii is a large tree, sometimes more than 60 m tall with a diameter of 1 m or more. The bole is straight and branchless for 30 m. The young twigs are lenticellate, resinous, with prominent buttresses. The bark is characteristically dark and scaly, exuding an almost colourless resin. Leaves alternate and simple, leathery, elliptical-lanceolate, 7-17 cm long by 2.3-5 cm wide, apex long acuminate. Petioles 5-10 mm long and stipules narrowly oblong, about 12 mm long Flowers bisexual, broadly ovate, outside caducous puberulent with 5 elliptic, creamy-white or greenish-yellow petals. stamens 15, glabrous; connectives short, curved, slightly exceeding the anthers; ovary ovoid, glabrous with long slender style. Fruit an acorn-like wingless nut, blanceolate, oblong and cylindrical, 4-5 cm long by 2-2.5 cm wide at the base. At the time of maturity, the fruits begin to turn from green to brown. During germination the fruit splits into three equal valves when the radicle elongates Seed shaped like the fruit and a few mm shorter and green at maturity. N. heimii is closely related to the genus Hopea, whose species have similar leaf characteristics, wood anatomy, biochemistry and habit |
| Nephelium ramboutan-ake | Nephelium ramboutan-ake is a tree to 24 m tall, trunk 45 cm in diameter, buttresses up to 1.5 m tall. Leaves (1-)3-7(-18)-jugate, petiole 3-9 cm long, petiolules 2-4 mm; leaflets 5-11 cm x 1.5-3.5 cm, 2.5-6 times as long as wide. Inflorescences terminal and axillary; petals absent; stamens 5-6, pistil 1-2-merous. Fruit ellipsoid to subglobular, 3 cm x 2.25 cm, sparsely set with thick warts tapering into up to 7.5-mm long appendages, red. N. ramboutan-ake is a variable species and may closely resemble N. lappaceum. The spines on the fruits are usually short and stubby in N. ramboutan-ake and long filiform in N. lappaceum. |
| Newtonia buchananii | Newtonia buchananii is a tall deciduous tree 10-40 m high, with a rather flat crown. The tree trunk is often short but can be extremely high in forest valleys, with strongly fluted buttresses. Bark is smooth and light grey. Branchlets with rust-brown hairs. Leaves bipinnate, leaflets numerous (24-)38-67 pairs, linear or falcate 2-9 mm long, tiny and light green when young. Leaf rachis with a stipitate tiny gland between each pinna-pair. Inflorescences in erect cream spikes fading to brown, 3-18 cm long. Flowers sessile or nearly so, anthers with an apical gland that soon falls off, ovary densely pilose outside. Pods brown, 1.3-2.5 cm, thin 15-30 cm long, splitting open on one side. Seeds lying longitudinally in the pod, seeds flat, distinctive red-brown, to 4-7 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, surrounded by a membranous wing. The generic and specific epithets are honorary for Sir Isaac Newton, the famous English scientist, and Buchanan, a botanical collector and Vice Consul in Malawi from 1877-1890. |
| Ocotea usambarensis | Ocotea usambarensis is a large tree, 3.5-36 (max. 45) m high with a spreading crown and stem diameter of (min.1.25) 3.75-9.5 m. Bole straight, slightly fluted, buttressed at the base, unbranched for 9-15 m. Bark grey or reddish brown, much fissured, granular, scaly and flaking off in small round patches or thick squares; slash white or faintly pink with a characteristic sweet scent. Leaves opposite (alternate on sucker shoots), simple, elliptic to elongate-ovate or almost round, 4-16.5 cm long, 2.5-9 cm wide, dark green above, whitish below and camphor scented; margin rolled under in mature leaves, glabrous to shortly tomentose or pubescent with spreading ferruginous hairs, rounded to sharply acuminate at the apex, cuneate, rounded or truncate at the base, venation closely reticulate above, lateral nerves impressed above; veins wavy and brown; petiole 0.5-2.2 cm long. Cymose panicles tomentellous, axillary and terminal, 1.2-2.5 cm long, greyish or ferruginous, pubescent; peduncles 2-5 cm long; pedicels less than 2 mm long; bracts ovate about 2 mm long, obtuse, densely pubescent, soon deciduous. Perianth green, whitish or yellow, pubescent, about 1.5 mm long; inner lobes ovate, outer elliptic-oblong, 3 mm long, spreading. Separate male and female flowers, 8-10, each 5 mm long, yellow-white-green, hairy, stalked, held in a calyx cup. Stamens of hermaphrodite flowers with linear filaments as long as anthers; stamens of 3rd whorl with yellow, subglobose sessile or shortly stalked glands inserted on either side at the base; staminodes filiform, 1 mm long with dark tip. Female flowers with stamens and staminodes much reduced. Ovary ovoid, glabrous; style slender, 1 mm long; stigma discoid. Fruit a glabrous drupe, ellipsoid or globose, 8-11 x 1-6.5 mm, borne in a cup 4-6 mm wide and 2-3 mm long, smooth and green when mature; pedicel thickened below cup. Seeds very small and surrounded by pulp. |
| Pentaclethra macrophylla | Pentaclethra macrophylla trees grow to about 21 m in height and about 60 cm girth. Have a characteristic low branching habit and an open crown, which allows substantial light under its canopy. The bole produces a reddish-orange coloration after a slash is made. Stem form is usually crooked and buttressed. Some are straight-stemmed and less buttressed trees, which can pass for good timber, are occasionally seen in the forests. Bark is greyish to dark reddish brown, thin and patchy with irregular pieces flaking off. Leaves possess a stout angular petiole. The compound leaves are usually about 20-45 cm long and covered with rusty hairs giving a scurry effect particularly along the upper surface but this eventually falls off. There are 10-12 pairs of stout opposite pinnae. The middle pairs are 7-13 cm long and also have rusty hairs along the central grove. There are usually 12-15 pairs of opposite stalkless pinnules (leaflets), each 12-15 cm long, 5-10 mm broad, with the middle pairs longest. Leaflets often have a rounded tip but are sometimes notched; the base is unequal. The inflorescences are spicate and the flowers pentamerous, creamy-yellow or pinkish-white and sweet smelling. In addition to the 5 stamens are 10-15 staminodes. The pods are 40-50 cm long and 5-10 cm wide. Fruit splits open explosively with the valves curling up. This is the form in which they appear on most trees. Usually, pods contain between 6-10 flat glossy brown seeds, which may vary in site. The seeds are up to 7 cm long. |
| Prosopis africana | Prosopis africana reaches 4-20 m in height; has an open crown and slightly rounded buttresses; bark is very dark, scaly, slash orange to red-brown with white streaks. Foliage drooping; leaves alternate, bipinnate; rachis 10-15 cm long with 3-6 pairs of opposite pinnae (5-8 cm long); 9-16 pairs of leaflets, oblong-lanceolate, 12-30 mm, pubescent; a typical gland between pairs of pinnae and leaflets. Flowers greenish-white to yellow, fragrant, in dense 6-10 cm long axillary spikes; calyx pubescent but petals glabrous; 10 free-standing stamens; anthers with a small apical gland. Pods dark brown, cylindrical, thick and hard, shiny, up to 15 x 3 cm, with woody walls, compartmented; about 10 loose, rattling seeds per pod with a thin, intermarginal line around. |
| Pterocarpus erinaceus | Pterocarpus erinaceus is a medium-sized, generally deciduous tree 12-15 m tall, bole often of poor form, strongly fluted and gnarled, with numerous, plank-like buttresses; bark surface finely scaly fissured, brown-blackish, inner bark thin, producing red sap when cut; crown dense, domed; branchlets often lenticelled; indumentum of simple, usually short and adpressed hairs. Old trees often hollow. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, up to 30 cm long; stipules generally small, linear or narrowly triangular, usually early caducous; up to 11 leaflets, alternate or sometimes subopposite, entire. Inflorescence paniculate; bracts and bracteoles small, linear to narrowly triangular. Flowers bisexual, irregular; calyx 5 mm long, turbinate to campanulate, 5-lobed, the upper 2 lobes usually larger, sometimes united; petals 5, free, clawed, 10-12 mm, generally yellow, glabrous or sparsely hairy outside, standard obovate to spatulate, keels shorter than the wings and connate at the base. Fruit a compressed indehiscent pod, green when young, disk-like, up to 7.5 cm diameter, broadly winged or rarely slightly keeled, with a thickened central, usually woody or corky seed-bearing portion, with 1-3(4) seeds. Seed kidney-shaped to oblong, usually narrowed and curved near the minute hilum, smooth to undulate, testa brown to blackish, aril, minute. Pterocarpus is based on the Greek words ‘pteran’ meaning a wing and, ‘karpos’ meaning’ fruit. |
| Pterocarpus indicus | Pterocarpus indicus is a big tree, growing to 33 m in height and 2 m diameter. The trunks are usually fluted and buttressed to 7-m diameter at the base. The crowns are large and bear many long branches that are at first ascending, but eventually arch over and sometimes droop at the ends. Trees with long willowy, drooping branches are particularly conspicuous and attractive in Singapore and some parts of Malaysia and Hawaii. Elsewhere the drooping habit may not develop. In a non-seasonal humid tropical climate such as in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, the trees are generally evergreen, but in regions with seasonal rainfall, the trees are deciduous. The leaves are compound-pinnate, bearing about 12 alternate leaflets. The leaflets are rather large, 7 x 3.5 to 11 x 55 cm and ovate to elliptic in shape, with a pronounced acuminate tip. The flowers are yellow, fragrant, and borne in large axillary panicles. When flowering, the buds do not open in daily sequence. Instead, as buds come to full size, they are kept waiting, to be triggered into opening. The opened flowers last for one day. After that, several days may pass before another batch of accumulated 'ready' buds open. The nature of the trigger is unknown. Whole avenues of such trees blooming in unpredictable synchrony making a splendid display. The fruits, which take four months to mature, are disc-shaped, flat, and have winged margins. About 5 cm across, the fruit have a central woody-corky bulge containing several seeds (ptero-carpus means winged fruit). Unlike most legumes, the Pterocarpus fruit is indehiscent and is dispersed by wind. It also floats in water and can be water-dispersed. There are 1-3 seeds in each fruit. Two distinct forms of P. indicus are recognized: P. indicus Willd. forma echinatus (Persoon) Rojo and P. indicus Willd. forma indicus. The seed portion of the pod of forma echinatus (common name pricky pear narra) is covered with distinct bristle-like spicules, while the seed of forma indicus are smooth (common name smooth narra). The distribution of pricky narra appears to be more limited than that of smooth narra. The end uses are identical. Pterocarpus is based on the Greek words ‘pteran’ meaning a wing and, ‘karpos’ meaning’ fruit. |
| Quercus humboldtii | Quercus humboldtii is predominantly evergreen tree to 25 m and a diameter to 1 m with buttresses to 1 m. The bark red/grey or grey, fissured, breaking into squares and flaking. Leaves simple, alternate, lanceolate, 10-20 cm long, clustered at the end of the branches; lamina leathery and glabrous, apex acute, base cuneate, shiny green above, lighter green beneath. Flowers yellow, small, unisexual; inflorescence a raceme; male flowers numerous, feminine ones in a cupula, styles long. Fruit light brown, ovoid capsule (acorn) with leathery pericarp, 2-2.5 cm in diameter and 5-7 cm long, resting on a scaly cupule. Only one fruit per cupule is developed, inside of acorn shell woolly. |
| Rauvolfia caffra | Rauvolfia caffra is a much branched tree to 35 m high, 1.5 m or more in diameter with a dense crown; bole straight, slightly buttressed; bark light brown or greyish-white with irregular fissures; slash cream, exuding a bitter white latex. Leaves in crowded whorls, simple, stipules absent; blade oblanceolate to linear oblanceolate, 6-32 x 1.5-7 cm, apex obtuse to acute or subacuminate, base cuneate, margins entire, glabrous, shiny green above, paler below, lateral nerves 18-30 pairs; petiole 0.5-6 cm long. Inflorescence a terminal compound umbel, peduncle 2-6 cm long, bracts minute; flowers bisexual, 5-merous, white, pedicles 1 mm long. Calyx cup-shaped, 1 mm long, 5-toothed or lobed; corolla salver-shaped, white, tube 3-4.5 mm long, lobes ovate, 1 mm long, mouth filled with whitish hairs; stamens 5, inserted above the middle; ovary of 2 more-or-less united carpels, often only 1 developing. Fruit a subglobose to obovoid drupe, smooth and green at first, becoming wrinkled and blackish purple, 1-1.5 cm long, 2 cm in diameter if 2-seeded; seeds 1 or 2, white, ovoid-compressed, endosperm fleshy. The generic name Rauvolfia (sometimes mis-spelt Rauwolfia), commemorates a 16th century German physician, Leonhart Rauvolf, who travelled widely to collect medicinal plants. The specific name ‘caffra’ means ‘of Kaffraria’ (Eastern Cape). The common name ‘quinine tree’ refers to the bitter and supposedly quinine-like properties of the bark. |
| Ricinodendron heudelotii | Ricinodendron heudelotii is a fast-growing tree, reaching up to 50 m in height and 2.7 m in girth; bole straight with short buttress; bark grey, smooth at first, becoming scaly with ageing; slash dark red, densely mottled with scattered pits and orange stone-cell granules. Leaves alternate, digitately 3-5 foliate; leaflets sessile or subsessile, glandular, denticulate, often white-felted on the underside at 1st with stellate pubescent hairs, becoming glabrous; obovate to obovate-elliptic; apex long-acuminate; base cuneate; stipules large, foliaceus, persistent, deeply toothed. Inflorescence yellow tomentose; male panicles up to 41 cm long; female panicles shorter and stouter; male flowers with 5 sepals, a 5-lobed corolla tube and 10 stamens; female flowers with stellate tomentose ovary and 2 styles, slender and bipartite. Fruit indehiscent, 2-3 lobed, 2 celled, with a thick, hard shell and a smell of overripe apples; contains 2-3 red-brown-black seeds, rounded, flat, over 1 cm across. Two varieties are recognized: R. heudelotii var. heudelotii in Ghana, and R. heudelotii var. africanum in Nigeria and westwards. The generic name is based on the Greek words for tick and tree because the seeds were thought to resemble ticks. |
| Sandoricum koetjape | Sandoricum koetjape is a deciduous, small to large tree, up to 45(-50) m tall. The tree bole is sometimes straight but often crooked or fluted, branchless for up to 18(-21) m and with a trunk diameter up to 100 cm. Buttresses up to 3m high. Bark surface smooth or sometimes flaky or fissured, lenticillate, greyish to pale pinkish-brown, inner bark pale brown or red-brown to pink, exuding a milky latex. The tree is interesting because it branches unusually low to the ground but has a compact crown. Leaves trifoliate arranged spirally, exstipulate; leaflets entire. Flowers in an axillary thyrse, bisexual, 4-5 merous; calyx truncate to shallowly lobed; petals free; staminal tube cylindrical, carrying 10 anthers; disk tubular; ovary superior, 4-5-locular with 2 ovules in each cell, style-head lobed. Fruit a 1-5-locular drupe about the size of a clenched fist; pyrenes 1(-2)-seeded. Seed large, without aril and surrounded by a translucent or pale, acid, edible pulp of good flavour. S. koetjape is a highly variable species and was formerly divided into 2 or 3 species based on the colour of the old leaves, however there appears to be no correlation with other characters and this distinction has been dropped. |
| Schizolobium parahybum | Schizolobium parahybum is unarmed, with a cylindrical bole, high buttresses and a wide spreading, open crown. Leaves bipinnate, large; pinnae 15-20 pairs, fernlike; leaflets small, elliptic, 10-20 pairs, stipules absent. Flowers golden yellow, large, profusely produced in axillary semi-erect racemes or terminal panicles; bracts minute; bracteoles absent; calyx tube obliquely turbinate; lobes 5, overlapping, reflexed at flowering; petals 5, clawed, subequal, overlapping, uppermost petal innermost; stamens 10, free, subdeclinate; filaments villous, basally rough; anthers uniform, longitudinally dehiscent; ovary subsessile affixed to 1 side of calyx tube, many-ovuled, style filiform; stigma minute, terminal. Pod flat, spoon or tear-drop shaped, exocarp firm, leathery, tardily dehiscent. Seed large, oblong, compressed, located near apex. The genus Schizolobium has 4-5 members. The generic name is derived from the Greek verb schizo, “divide” and lobion, “pod”; the inner and outer layers of the pod separate at maturity, whereas the specific epithet is after the Parahyba River in Brazil. |
| Securinega flexuosa | Securinega flexuosa is a deciduous, shrub or small or rarely medium-sized tree up to 10(-30) m tall; bole often irregular, branchless for up to 6 m, up to 30(-50) cm in diameter, sometimes with indistinct buttresses; bark surface smooth, becoming fissured and scaly with age, peeling in small, thin strips, lenticellate, pale grey to pale brown. Leaves arranged spirally but distichous on twigs, simple, entire, with short petioles; stipules small. Flowers in an axillary fascicle, unisexual, small, whitish or greenish-yellow; sepals 5; petals absent. Male flowers with 3-5 stamens; disk composed of 5 glands; pistillode present. Female flowers with an annular, crenate disk; ovary superior, 3-locular with 2 ovules in each cell, styles short, connate at base, stigmas deeply 2-lobed or double 2-lobed. Fruit drupaceous, many in clusters, fleshy, red turning black when ripe. Seed angled. |
| Shorea javanica | Shorea javanica is a medium-sized to fairly large tree of up to 40 m tall; bole is straight, cylindrical, branchless for up to 20 (max. 30) m and with a diameter of up to 150 cm; buttresses prominent, up to 1.5 m high; bark surface with irregular section fissures, rarely scaly, grey or light brown; outer bark usually thick, chocolate brown; inner bark laminated with bands of orange-yellow (rarely pink) and whitish tissue, exuding a clear, yellow resin; mature crown hemispherical or dome shaped, sympodial. Leaves elliptical-oblong to ovate, thin, leathery, (min. 6.5) 10-15 x (max. 3.5) 4-8 cm, with 19-25 pairs of secondary veins; underside evenly tomentose on the veins; petiole 16-22 mm long; stipules and bracts often large and more or less persistent. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, paniculate; flowers secund or distichous, bisexual, pentamerous, actinomorphic, scented; calyx lobes free, hirsute; petals broadly elliptical to ovate lanceolate, loosely connate at base, white, often tinged with pink, the outer surface hirsute. Fruit usually shortly stalked; the outer 3 calyx lobes much elongated, up to 18 x 1.5 cm, more or less thickened and saccate at base; nut 1 seeded, free from calyx, subglobose to ovate, sharply pointed. ‘Damar mata kucing’ (Indonesian) means cat’s eye resin. |
| Shorea negrosensis | Shorea negrosensis is a large tree up to 50 m tall, with bole branchless for 20-30 m and a diameter up to 200 cm. The tree is prominently buttressed. Leaves ovate to elliptical, thinly leathery, 6.5-17 cm x 3-7.5 cm, with (8-) 11-15 pairs of secondary veins. Stamens about 48, anthers linear-oblong with short appendages, stylopodium indistinct. Fruit calyce lobes large up to 7 x 13 cm. |
| Swietenia macrophylla | Swietenia macrophylla is a very large tree, reaching a height of 30-40 m and a girth of 3-4 m; in favourable conditions it can reach 60 m high and 9 m girth. Trunk straight, cylindrical, with a buttressed base; bark rough, flaking off in small patches. Leaves paripinnate, up to 60 cm long; leaflets 6-16, ovate, lanceolate, acuminate, slightly oblique, light green or reddish when young, dark green and shining when mature, up to 20 cm long, with 8-12 pale, secondary nerves. Flowers 8 mm across, in narrow supra-axillary panicles about 8-13 cm long and fragrant; petals greenish-white, oblong, 4 mm long, rigidly pointed. Fruit a woody capsule resembling a large inverted club, about 12.5 x 7.5 cm, erect. ‘Swietenia’ commemorates Gerard von Swieten (1700-1772), botanist and physician to Maria Theresa of Austria. The specific name, ‘macrophylla’, means large leaved and comes from Greek words ‘makros’ (large) and ‘phyllon’ (leaf). |
| Swietenia mahagoni | Swietenia mahagoni is a tall tree, up to 30 m high, with a short, buttressing base, up to 1 m in diameter and a large, spherical crown, many heavy branches and dense shade. The bark is smooth grey on young trees, turning to scaly dark reddish-brown on large trees. The tree is deciduous in areas where it is subject to drought. Leaves even, pinnate, 10-18 cm long, and bearing 4-10 pairs of leaflets that are shiny, dark green, lance-shaped, 2.5-5 cm long by 0.7-2 cm broad. Flowers greenish-yellow, 6-8 mm across, in axillary panicles; panicles glabrous, shorter than the leaves. The light brown seed capsule stands upright, about 6-10 cm long by 4-5 cm diameter, with 5 valves splitting upward from the base. Each valve releases about 20 flat, brown, winged seeds, 4-6 cm long. Swietenia commemorates Gerard von Swieten (1700-1772), botanist and physician to Maria Theresa of Austria. |
| Tabebuia donnell-smithii | Tabebuia donnell-smithii is a large tree, main trunk almost always of good form, growing straight for 7-13 m, even when open grown; buttresses and fluting often occur in large trees; branchlets terete to subtetragonal. Leaves simple, 1-foliolate or digitately 3-7-foliolate; leaflets mostly with simple trichomes. Flowers bright yellow, 2-2.5 cm wide, in clusters at branch ends. Calyx thin, membranous, of the same texture as the corolla; inflorescence with the central rachis well developed. Anthers glabrous, the thecae straight, divaricate, included or sub-exserted. Ovary linear-oblong, often more or less lepidote; ovules 2-multiseriate in each locule; disk annular-pulvinate to short-cupular. Pods 25-50 cm long, straight, pendulous, brown, dehiscent. Seeds thin, flat, surrounded by a papery wing. |
| Tabebuia serratifolia | Tabebuia serratifolia is a large, deciduous tree, up to 37 m high and 3 m in trunk diameter, that will square 30 cm of heartwood. Trunk usually straight and frequently buttressed. Flowers profuse, clear yellow, borne at intervals during the dry season. Fruit a linear dehiscent capsule containing many winged seeds. The generic name is after its Brazilian local name. The specific epithet means serrate leaved. |
| Tectona grandis | Tectona grandis is a large, deciduous tree reaching over 30 m in height in favourable conditions. Crown open with many small branches; the bole is often buttressed and may be fluted, up to 15 m long below the 1st branches, up to 1 m dbh. Bark is brown, distinctly fibrous with shallow, longitudinal fissures. The root system is superficial, often no deeper than 50 cm, but roots may extend laterally up to 15 m from the stem. The very large, 4-sided leaves are shed for 3-4 months during the later half of the dry season, leaving the branchlets bare. Shiny above, hairy below, vein network clear, about 30 x 20 cm but young leaves up to 1 m long. Flowers small, about 8 mm across, mauve to white and arranged in large, flowering heads, about 45 cm long; found on the topmost branches in the unshaded part of the crown. Fruit is a drupe with 4 chambers; round, hard and woody, enclosed in an inflated, bladder-like covering; pale green at first, then brown at maturity. Each fruit may contain 0 to 4 seeds. There are 1 000-3500 fruits/kg. The generic name comes from ‘tekka’, the Malabar name for T. grandis. The specific name, ‘grandis’, is Latin for ‘large’ or ‘great’. |
| Terminalia arjuna | Terminalia arjuna is a deciduous large-sized fluted tree to 30 m tall and 2-2.5 m dbh, with an often buttressed trunk. Its superficial, shallow root system spreads radially along stream banks. The large, spreading crown produces drooping branches. Bark grey or pinkish-green, thick, smooth and exfoliating in thin irregular sheets. Leaves simple, opposite to sub-opposite, 5–25 × 4–9 cm, oblong or elliptic oblong, glabrous, hard, often inequilateral, margin often crenulate, apex obtuse or sub-acute, base rounded or sometimes cordate. The petiole is short (2-4 cm long), sericeous, with 2 (or 1) prominent two glands at petiole apex Inflorescences are short axillary spikes or small terminal panicles, 9-13 cm long with 2.5-6 cm long branches. The rachis short, white and pubescent. Lower receptacle 0.8-1.5 mm long, short sericeous, upper receptacle 1.5-1.75 mm long, glabrous except at base where slightly pubescent. Flowers are small, cup-shaped, regular, sessile, polygamous, white, creamy or greenish-white and strongly honey-scented. Fruit 2.5-6 x 1.8-2.8 cm long, obovoid-oblong, dark brown to reddish-brown fibrous woody, indehiscent drupe, glabrous with 5-7 equal thick narrow stiff-wings and striated with numerous upwards-curved veins. The generic name Terminalia comes from Latin word ‘terminus’ or ‘terminalis’ (ending), and refers to the habit of the leaves being crowded or borne on the tips of the shoots. |
| Terminalia bellirica | Terminalia bellirica is a large deciduous tree to 50 m tall and a diameter of 3 m with a rounded crown. The frequently buttressed bole at the base is branchless up to 20 m. The bark is bluish or ashy-grey covered with numerous fine longitudinal cracks, the inner bark yellowish. Leaves large, glabrous, alternate, broadly elliptic to obovate-elliptical, 4-24 cm x 2-11 cm, base rounded to cuneate, rufous-sericeous but soon glabrescent, with 6-9 pairs of secondary veins. Secondary and tertiary venation prominent on both surfaces, clustered towards the ends of branchlets. Petiole 2.5-9 cm long. Young leaves copper-red, soon becoming parrot green, then dark green. Flowers solitary, small, 3-15 cm long, greenish white, simple, axillary spikes; calyx tube densely sericeous or tomentulose; flowers appear along with new leaves and have a strong honey-like smell. Fruit sub-globular to broadly ellipsoid, 2-4 x 1.8-2.2 cm, densely velutinous or sericeous, light-yellow, obscurely 5-angled and minutely brown tomentosa. The generic name ‘Terminalia’ comes from Latin word ‘terminus’ or ‘terminalis’ (ending), and refers to the habit of the leaves being crowded or borne on the tips of the shoots. |
| Terminalia catappa | Terminalia catappa is a tall deciduous and erect tree reaching 15-25 m, trunk 1-1.5 m in diameter, often buttressed at the base. Whorls of nearly horizontal, slightly ascending branches spaced 1-2 m apart in tiers, or storeys, up the trunk. The pagoda-like habit becomes less noticeable as the branches elongate and droop at the tips. Bark grey-brown, rough with age. Leaves alternate obovate with short petioles, spirally clustered at the branch tips, 15-36 cm long, 8-24 cm wide, dark green above, paler beneath, leathery and glossy. They turn bright scarlet, dark red, dark purplish-red, or yellow. Flowers slightly fetid, greenish-white, very small, with no petals but 10-12 conspicuous stamens, arranged in several slender spikes 15-25 cm long in the leaf axils. The majority of the flowers are male and borne towards the apex, while a few hermaphroditic ones appear below. Some spikes have only male flowers. Fruit hard, to 7 cm, green-red, rounded and flattened, egg-shaped, with 2 ridges but no wings, 2.5 x 3-6 cm long, yellow or reddish when ripe. The cylindrical, oil-containing seeds are encased in a tough, fibrous husk within a fleshy pericarp. There are about 24 fresh fruits and 160 nuts per kg. The generic name comes from the Latin ‘terminalis’ (ending) and refers to the habit of the leaves being crowded at the ends of the shoots. |
| Terminalia ivorensis | Terminalia ivorensis is a large deciduous forest tree ranging in height from 15 to 46 m, branchless for up to 30 m, dbh 2-4.75 m. Bole clean, very straight with small buttresses and sometimes fluted. Mature trees very flat topped with a wide horizontal canopy of evenly distributed foliage arising from the apex of the straight bole. In young trees, the branches are whorled; deciduous, young shoots and foliage falling a few years after initial growth, leaving sockets to mark their original position on the bole. Bark smooth and light grey to dark brown when young and on branchlets; in mature trees often blackish, with deep longitudinal fissures. The bark flakes off in long thin strips. Slash yellow. T. ivorensis forms a good taproot supported by 6-8 powerful lateral roots. There is also evidence of a widespread and rather superficial root system. Leaves 6.4-12.7 x 2.5-6 cm, whorled, simple, oval, blunt tipped with orange-brown hairs below and on veins above, also on the short stalks; 6-7 pairs widely spaced veins, prominent below. Flowers in axillary spikes 7.6-10.2 cm long with bisexual flowers nearly to the apex. The lower receptacle is densely tomentose, the upper receptacle less so. Fruit winged and somewhat variable in size, especially in the width of the wings. Elongated and narrow, emarginate and slightly decurrent, 5.8-10 x 1.7-2 cm, finely tomentose with very short reddish or orange-brown hairs, pedicel 7-11 mm long. When ripe it is reddish-brown and woody, frequently having a weevil hole; oval seed in the centre, 1.5 cm. The generic name comes from the Latin ‘terminalis’ (ending), and refers to the habit of the leaves being crowded at the ends of the shoots. |
| Terminalia superba | Terminalia superba is a large tree, up to 50 m tall and 5 m in girth, bole cylindrical, long and straight with large, flat buttresses, 6 m above the soil surface; crown open, generally flattened, consisting of a few whorled branches. Bark fairly smooth, greying, flaking off in small patches; slash yellow. Root system frequently fairly shallow, and as the tree ages the taproot disappears. Buttresses, from which descending roots arise at some distance from the trunk, then support the tree. Leaves simple, alternate, in tufts at the ends of the branches; deciduous, leaving pronounced scars on twigs when shed. Petiole 3-7 cm long, flattened above, with a pair of subopposite glands below the blade; lamina glabrous, obovate, 6-12 x 2.5-7 cm, with a short acuminate apex. Nerves 6-8 pairs; secondary reticulation inconspicuous. Inflorescence a 7-18-cm, laxly flowered spike, peduncle densely pubescent; flowers sessile, small, greenish-white; calyx tube saucer shaped, with 5 short triangular lobes. Petals absent. Stamens usually twice the number of calyx lobes (usually 10), in 2 whorls, glabrous; filaments a little longer than calyx; intrastaminal disc annular, flattened, 0.3 mm thick; densely woolly pubescent. Fruit a small, transversely winged, sessile, golden-brown smooth nut, 1.5-2.5 x 4-7 cm (including the wings). Nut without the wing about 1.5 x 2 cm when mature, usually containing 1 seed. The generic name comes from the Latin ‘terminalis’ (ending), and refers to the habit of the leaves being crowded at the ends of the shoots. |
| Tetrapleura tetraptera | Tetrapleura tetraptera is deciduous; it reaches 20-25 m in height, with a girth of 1.5-3 m. The bole is slender and older trees have very small, low, sharp buttresses. In the forest, the crown is fairly small, thin and rounded, becoming flat when old, but it tends to spread when in the open. Bark fairly smooth, grey-brown, very thin; slash reddish, strong smelling, fairly thick. Twigs and young foliage virtually glabrous or minutely hairy. Leaves are sessile, glabrous or minutely hairy with a common stalk 15-30 cm long, slightly channelled on the upper surface. The pinnae are in 5-9 pairs, 5-10 cm long, mostly opposite but sometimes alternate; 6-12 leaflets on each side of the pinna stalk, always alternate, 12-25 mm long, 6-12 mm broad, slightly elongated, elliptic or slightly obovate, rounded at both ends, the apex sometimes very slightly notched, the base usually unequal, practically glabrous, with slender stalks about 2 mm long; lateral nerves indistinct, running at a wide angle to the prominent midrib. Flowers are pinkish-cream turning to orange and are densely crowded in spikelike racemes 5-20 cm long, usually in pairs in the upper leaf axils; individual flowers with slender stalks and 10 short stamens, the anthers carrying a gland at the apex. Fruit is very persistent, hanging at the ends of branches on stout stalks 25 cm long. It is shiny, glabrous, dark purple-brown, usually slightly curved, 15-25 cm long by about 5 cm across, with 4 longitudinal, winglike ridges nearly 3 cm broad. Two of the wings are woody, the other 2 filled with soft, sugary pulp, oily and aromatic. The seeds, which rattle in the pods, are small, black, hard, flat, about 8 mm long, embedded in the body of the pod, which does not split open. The kernel contains oil. The generic name comes from a Greek word meaning ‘four ribs’, referring to the ribbed fruit. The specific epithet means four winged. |
| Toona sureni | Toona sureni is a medium-sized to fairly large tree, up to 40 (60) m tall and diameter up to 100 cm (300 cm in mountainous areas) with dark brown young branches. The bole is branchless for up to 25 m and buttressed up to 2 m. Bark is usually fissured and flaky, whitish, greyish-brown or pale brown, scented when cut. Leaves large, 10-15 cm long, 2.5-7cm wide, arranged spirally, often clustered at the end of the twigs. There are 8-30 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets entire, nearly opposite, elliptic, apex mucronate, base unequal, margin entire or crenulate, glabrous, usually hairy on veins on upper side. Inflorescence racemose, at the end of branches, forked and hanging. Flowers small, bisexual but functionally unisexual, yellowish white with strong smell. Corolla margins with fine hairs. Stamens 5, free, nearly as long as petal, sometimes with staminodes. Disk (receptacle) stout, rounded lobed and stigma cup shaped. Ovary tomentose, 5-locular, each locule with 8-10 ovules. Fruit an oval capsule, in terminal panicles, each containing more than 100 fruits. Each fruit dark brown, elliptic, 3-3.5 cm long and 1cm diameter, fruit coat with many white spots, has a central axis (columella), divided in 5 sections (from top to bottom, opening as a star), each section containing 6-9 seeds. Seed flat, brilliantly brown, 3-6 mm long and 2-4 mm wide, irregular, winged at one or both ends. |
| Triplochiton scleroxylon | Triplochiton scleroxylon is a large deciduous forest tree commonly attaining 45 m in height and 1.5 m in diameter. The boles of mature trees are often heavily buttressed but usually free from branches. Bark ashy grey or yellowish-brown, usually smooth in young trees but scaly and with fissures in older ones. Slash fibrous, creamy white to pale yellow. Young trees have a cylindrical-shaped crown bearing foliage almost to the ground; self-pruning gradually modifies this to a high, dense, circular crown, which finally becomes flat-topped when the trees are old. Leaves 10-20 cm long and broad, palmate with 5-7 lobes, cordate and 5-7 nerved at base, lobes broadly ovate, triangular or oblong, rounded or obtusely acuminate at the apex; glabrous; stalk 3-10 cm long. Leaves of saplings and coppice shoots often larger and more deeply lobed than the crown leaves. Inflorescence a paniculate cyme, 4-5 cm long, with dichotomous branching. Flower saucer-shaped; petals white, red-purple at base, obovate, densely hairy, about 1 cm long and broad; stamens 30-46; carpels 5. Fruits brown to reddish-brown, composed of 1-5 winged carpels, each carpel more or less rhombic; measuring 0.8-2 cm across the diagonal, wing 4-6 cm long, 1.2-2 cm broad, oblong-obovate with a thickened margin. Mericarp may be densely or sparsely pilose, either from the point of attachment to the slit at the apex or only on the slit and at the point of attachment. The generic name is derived from triplostichus (in or having 3 rows) and –chiton (Greek for covering. The specific name is derived from sclero- (Greek for hard) and xylon (Greek, relating to wood). |
| Vitex parviflora | Vitex parviflora is a medium-sized to fairly large tree up to 30(-38) m tall, bole up to 125(-200) cm in diameter and branchless for up to 20m, but often much shorter and crooked, with buttresses; bark surface smooth, shallowly fissured or flaky, pale grey to pale yellowish-brown, inner bark pale yellow to bright orange; crown often spreading. Leaves opposite, compound, 3-foliate, leaflets glabrous below. Inflorescence terminal and in the upper leaf axils, paniculate, rather lax; flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, calyx cup-shaped, with 5 lobes, calyx lobes absent or indistinct; corolla with a short tube, bluish, 2-lipped, upper lip 2-lobbed, lower lip much larger and 3-lobed, pubescent outside; stamens 4, inserted on the corolla tube, exserted, didynamous; ovary superior, 2-4 chambered, with 1 filiform style having a bifid stigma. Fruit a drupe, subglobose, sessile on the often enlarged calyx, 5mm in diameter, bluish-black when mature, 1-4 seeded. Seed obovoid or oblong, lacking endosperm. |
| Xylopia aethiopica | Xylopia aethiopica is a slim, tall, evergreen, aromatic tree to 15–30 m high and about 60–70 cm in diameter with straight stem, many-branched crown and sometimes buttressed. Bark grey-brown, smooth or finely vertically fissured and peeling easily. Leaves simple, alternate, oblong, elliptic to ovate, 8-16.5 by 2.8-6.5 cm, leathery, bluish-green and without hairs above, but with fine brownish hairs below, margin entire, and glabrous; petiole 0.3-0.6 cm, thickset and dark-coloured. Flowers bisexual, solitary or in 3-5 flowered fasicles or in strange, sinuous, branched spikes, or cymes, up to 5.5 by 0.4 cm and creamy-green. Fruits small, carpels 7-24, forming dense cluster, twisted bean-like pods, dark brown, cylindrical, 1.5-6 cm long and 4-7 mm thick; the contours of the seeds are visible from outside. Seeds black, 5-8 per pod, kidney-shaped seeds of approximately 10 mm length with a yellow papery aril. The hull is aromatic, but not the seed itself. Xylopia is Greek (‘xylon pikron’) for ‘bitter wood’, while aethiopica refers its Ethiopian origin. |
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